


The Adolescent Dilemma

by leovaldez



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Abusive Parents, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Biracial Character, Cheating, Divorce, Dyslexia, Eating Disorder Not Otherwise Specified, F/M, Homelessness, Implied/Referenced Underage Sex, M/M, Mental Health Issues, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, POV Alternating, Parent Death, Pressure, References to Depression, Secret Crush, Step-siblings, Teen Angst, Teen Pregnancy, Teen Romance, Teenage Drama, Underage Drinking, Underage Drug Use, Underage Smoking, Unrequited Crush
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-28
Updated: 2019-10-28
Packaged: 2020-11-08 17:56:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,893
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20839652
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/leovaldez/pseuds/leovaldez
Summary: She was completely pissed off, becauseyeah,she was seventeen, but this was a very adult decision that she wasn't entirely ready to make yet.





	The Adolescent Dilemma

**Author's Note:**

> another hs fic? random valgrace that wasn't necessary? a wip? YEAH IT'S ME.
> 
> **i believe i managed to tag everything but will continue tagging as i go along. i dont really consider any of them spoilers or anything, because some of them are pretty obvious and told early. **
> 
> basically what happened is i watched skins and went "lol ok but what if the seven" and then this messy brainchild arrived.... except that was like, last year and i just never wrote it XD.
> 
> essentially my plan is to publish **once/twice a month**, but literally i wasn't ever gonna publish this but ao3 was gonna delete this draft in like 2 days and im too lazy to redo the tags.... publishing in nov/dec might be hard tho because i have college apps and i'm stage managing a show >:(
> 
> please read the notes at the end.

He was so dead.

Percy tucked away his exam paper under his pillow and pretended like he hadn’t ever seen it. He failed- not the barely-passing type of fail he normally did, but completely and utterly bombed his test. Percy hadn’t even known his teacher gave out grades this low. Wasn’t there some kind of 50 percent rule?

He studied. He spent the days before combing through his textbook with his girlfriend, and the night before sitting with his mom with practice problems. Hours wasted mumbling about parent functions and log, downing liters of Moutain Dew, and staring at a blank calculator. Pre-Calc, as it turned out, was a vicious beast that didn’t care just how much Percy tried to pass.

What was worse, is how Percy could imagine the disappointment on his mom’s and Annabeth’s faces. He could picture the frowning and the pitiful looks in their eyes.

“Aw,” his mom would side-hug him while reading through the corrections his teacher made. “You’ll get it next time, Percy.” She’d rub his shoulder and kiss his forehead.

Annabeth would insist on more study time and try to encourage him more with flashcards. His girlfriend was organized like that. She kept her index cards color-coded for each subject (math was blue), and used a thick marker to legibly write out terms with definitions on the back.

He should probably text her. He won’t tell his mom though- that’ll add more to her endless list of worries. And Gabe might catch wind of it, which will turn his little problem into a Big Situation.

**Persea:** Anns  
**Annabeths1:** What's up?  
**Persea:** Got my test back  
**Annabeths1:** Good. And?  
**Persea:** :(  
**Annabeths1:** Yeesh 😥. Thought the studying would've helped.  
**Persea:** It did  
**Persea:** Kind of 😒  
**Annabeths1:** Don't worry, I'll help you study again later  
**Annabeths1:** Want to call me and talk about it?  
**Persea:** Nah I'm good  
**Annabeths1:** Ok  
**Annabeths1:** See you tomorrow   
**Persea:** :3

Percy sighed, dropping his phone on the bed. Tomorrow was Thursday. That meant Gabe would be home for Poker Night, but he had work. Annabeth would be at a Debate team meeting, so he would have to take the bus home.

Percy collapsed on his bed, sending the papers that were sitting there flying up in the air. Past and current homework assignments rained on the floor, most of the papers littered with heavy red ink.

His phone chimed. He clicked open the message, only to roll his eyes and power his phone off. His head fell into his pillow, groaning.

It was a flyer, no doubt found on the crowded bulletin of the public library. It was neon yellow with thick and dark lettering. Annabeth’s message was clear.

#### NEED HELP? STUDY SESSIONS FOR ANY SUBJECT. 4-8 PM. GET A PERSONAL TUTOR!

* * *

"It's not the worst thing ever," Jason said with eyes that read that yes, Piper's self-imposed haircut was, in fact, the worst thing ever.

"It's shit," Leo said, and Jason shot him a look.

"Don't worry about it," Piper's hand grazed Jason's arm. She internally kicked herself for still getting butterflies from the slight touch. "I know it's shit."

Leo reached out to touch her hair and Piper smacked his hand away. She then, twirled her own uneven strands with little interest, feeling the blunt edge between her fingers.

"Your hair was so pretty," Jason wasn't as rude as Leo but seemed just as interested with it as their best friend. "It was so... _long_."

"Needed a change," Piper dropped her hands and stuffed them in her windbreaker's pockets. It had seemed fun over the weekend- a spontaneous rebellion as Piper ripped scissors through her hair, allowing what had been waist long strands to barely grace her shoulders. Her sisters had cried at the sight and her mom screamed, which at the time made Piper feel triumphant. Now... she wasn't feeling that at all.

She wondered what Grandpa Tom would say. He would hate it. He was too traditional.

"It was like," Leo had laid back in the grass now and his hands were reaching for the sky. "Hella long. Uh. Like fucking. Like drapes and junk."

"Like curtains?" Jason leaned over Leo, blocking his sunlight.

"Yuh."

Piper didn't want to talk about her hair anymore. She nudged Leo with her foot. "How high are you? Give me some."

"It's in my bag," Leo said as if he was t lying on his back on his bag. He had the straps clipped together over his chest and the strips used to tighten the straps knotted over his belly. "Wait, hold on."

As he sat up to figure out the situation, Piper looked towards Jason, who watched Leo struggle with amusement. Piper squeezed their linked hands and Jason glanced at her with concern.

"Yeah?" He said, voice still rough from his recovering sore throat. Piper's heart fluttered when those sky blue eyes fell on her.

You've been dating for almost a year now, Piper reminded herself. Don't need to fall for him again.

"Is it really that bad?" Piper tilted her head, her dark hair dusting the shoulders of her white windbreaker.

Jason's eyes slid over her, and she resisted the urge to squirm. He smiled and kissed her cheek. "You look beautiful, Piper."

That made her want to cartwheel with joy. Instead, she cooly smiled back and threw a thanks. He winked at her, then turned back to Leo, laughing loudly at the guy who had given up and laid in the grass, face first.

"Here," Jason sat up to his knees and tugged on Leo's zippers. Leo groaned in the grass, and Jason's laughter echoed through the field. "Stop _moving_."

A cool wind blew past, sending Piper's hair flying up in her face. It never did that when it was long. She was so used to her hair being a single unmovable blob over her shoulders, that she didn't even consider the physics being completely off. Piper sighed, plucking a stolen hairband off her wrist and pulling her hair up.

No longer was there the long tail; her hair was now a weird triangle sticking from her neck, barely enough to be gathered into a proper ponytail.

Her neck felt oddly cold.

Grandpa Tom would be so disappointed.

* * *

Hazel Levesque _really_ wanted to be able to drive. She thought it would be super neat! Plus it was annoying being chauffeured everywhere. She felt bad that she had to direct some poor guy across town whenever she needed new tights or deodorant.

She was doing it for Charon then. The butler always insisted that he didn't mind driving her around, but Hazel felt like she was a bother. If she got her permit, then she'd be able to legally learn how to drive. But that would be in over a _year_.

Hazel waited at the front gate for Charon to pull up the car. Her dance bag sat on the ground with her bookbag resting on top. Beside them, her foot tapped impatiently. She checked her phone. No notifications. She bounced back and forth, shifting weight to each leg. She checked her phone again. She smoothed her hair back. She checked her phone, this time, only glancing at the time.

She needed to be at the school at exactly 7:39. School technically started at 8:45, which added more to her feeling like a bother for waking up so early but she had _to!_ Charon didn't seem to mind, but once Hazel got her own license, then she could drive as early as she wanted.

The gates creaking open surprised her, as a sleek car pulled up. Hazel hopped into the back of the car and smiled at the driver.

"Good morning Master Hazel," Charon greeted her with the tip of his hat. "How was breakfast?"

"Good as always," She complimented him and buckled up. "I love your food. Can we go now?"

"Do you want to wait for Master Nico?"

Hazel shook her head. He asked this every day but the answer was always the same. Despite going to the same school, they don't go to school together. Hazel leaving an hour earlier was part of the reason but... "He's still sleeping."

Charon nodded and faced forward, the car smoothly driving past the main gates.

Hazel hummed to herself, opening and closing her empty inbox. She went back and forth between her home screen and conversations as if doing the process again and again would increase the chances of her phone dinging with a new text. It was already the last week of September, and she hadn't made too many friends yet. Transitioning into high school was harder than Hazel thought, but she didn't mind the slow progress.

Her classmates didn't like her because they all knew Nico first and didn't like him. That was something she could turn around in a few more weeks. She and Nico weren't the same person which was pretty plain to see.

She _did_ have a few friends, but not once who texted her as much as she hoped. On her first day, Hazel grabbed a million posters and went home to study which clubs would take her.

The Equestrian Club was an obvious choice- Hazel had been riding for about six years now and was saving up to buy her own horse. The dance club piqued her interest but she missed the interest meeting and wasn't established not confident enough to simply show up to one of their rehearsals and start breaking out her pointe shoes. Orchestra seemed more like a chore than an activity. The Student Service Hours club would take too much time away from her schedule. Everything else wasn't open to freshmen like herself, or Hazel wasn't interested in it.

Student Council was one of such uninteresting clubs. Until she stumbled into their room instead of the Dance Club interest meeting room. And now...

"Here we go," Charon pulled into an empty parking lot. They were about five minutes from the school now. Hazel knew the drill: she slipped out of the backseat and fell into the front one, buckled up, and grabbed the steering wheel.

Charon was the one who suggested it. To help prep for her eventual driving tests, or maybe to queue her excitement, Charon allowed Hazel to drive from this spot to the school.

It wasn't _completely_ dangerous. It was a two-lane straight line from here on out, and Hazel had been practicing for a few weeks now. She's always been very careful about being behind the wheel, heck, she's _always_ been careful her entire life!

Hazel switched gears and reversed out of the spot, allowing Charon's calm voice to guide her.

Shifting her eyes from the side mirror to the clock in the dashboard, she cringed. 7:33. They weren't going to make it on time.

She refused to speed though. Careful. Hazel was careful.

Finally, after an agonizingly long four minutes, she spotted the grand spires and columns of her school. Giddily turning the corner, Hazel mentally patted her back for arriving on time, with only a minute to spare. Easing into the normal parking spot (it was only for a second because Charon needed to go back home to pick up Nico), Hazel braked and beamed at her butler, who nodded approvingly.

Then it caught her eye. Every single morning at exactly 7:39, Frank Zhang walked up the main stairs. From Hazel's selected spot, under the oak trees, she could greedily stare at him without fear of him noticing her. Hazel flushed at the thought- Frank was an upperclassman and barely knew she existed.

She was just a dumb fourteen-year-old, and he was the cutest and kindest sixteen-year-old Hazel had ever known.

A sigh flew out her mouth. Frank clambered up the stairs with a few friends. His hair was wet, most likely coming from a shower, and his jacket fit snugly across a broad chest and wide shoulders. He smiled at the friend closest to him, dazzling teeth making Hazel swoon from afar.

The car began to inch forward as Hazel's foot came off the break in her admiration state.

"Hazel," Charon warned, and the girl jumped and slapped her foot down again. She missed. Hazel instead hit the accelerator.

The car roared forward and Hazel screamed as the front bumper collided straight into the sacred oak tree that was supposed to be her ally. The airbag flew into her face.

Charon's disappointed sigh did not help at all. Hazel pushed the fabric away from her face, rubbing the back of her head which had slammed back into the seat. The car's alarms rang loundly.

"Oops?" She offered. Charon's sigh drew louder. Through the cracked windshield, Frank and his friends tentatively neared the car crash. She watched Frank's brow wrinkle with concern. 

Hazel wanted the earth to swallow her whole. This was _so_ not how she wanted him to notice her. She slipped lower in her seat, and Charon sighed again.

* * *

Annabeth had pancakes with blueberries and syrup for breakfast. The syrup having glitter in it should've been a sign that the twins messed with it. Had she not been exhausted from her hardcore all-nighter, she might've seen the warning signs.

Now that she was puking in the bathrooms, Annabeth was regretting that choice.

She wiped her mouth with toilet paper and flushed. The stall door banged open.

The girl who had previously been putting on makeup must've scurried out at Annabeth's first wave of nausea. She didn't blame her. Even now, Annabeth's stomach still felt strange.

She patted her belly and then washed her hands. Her hair was a mess- she didn't comb it before leaving. Her uniform was a little crinkled but clean.

Annabeth rubbed at her chest, feeling uncomfortable. She always grew sore at around her period, plus she had a presentation to do later today in class.

Annabeth shook her hands dry. She'd have to find Percy in the halls. He always knew how to make her feel better. Hopefully, she could bump into Grover too; the guy always had some healthy snack on hand.

Her phone vibrated. Ironic. It's like she and Percy were connected through a single mind link- he always knew the best times to text her.

**Persea:** Lets skip  
**Annabeths1:** I have a history test next period  
**Persea:** :3 Pretty please😚

It was only the third week of school. She had an A. Annabeth always had an A, she wouldn't have been accepted here if she didn't get A's. And her eyes did tend to glaze in this particular class.

_Besides_. She had an A. 

**Annabeths1:** Where to?  
**Persea:** >:3

* * *

Leo had an uber hot secret girlfriend that not even Jason could get. But Leo snatched her up, and _damn_ was she the hottest thing ever. Much hotter than Piper, who was the hottest (girl) friend Leo had.

Anyway, Khione was super fucking hot and she was in college. Jason would piss his pants if he knew. But no one knew. She didn't want to tell anyone, not even each other. As in they've definitely screwed in literally every hidey-hole in town, but Khione had yet to refer to Leo as her boyfriend. She always pulled up her panties, kissed Leo's cheek, and left only to call him a few days later.

Anyway, this is what Leo was thinking about when Jason scared the heebie-jeebies out of him in Psych. Jason had pressed his cold finger on the back of Leo's neck, causing him to jump and let his notebook slide to the floor.

The teacher paused, shook his head at Leo and continued lecturing about Gestalt.

Leo whipped his head around and flicked Jason's hand. "You suck."

"I'm bored," Jason whined, pressing his pen between Leo's shoulder blades, causing the boy to shiver. "_Talk to meeee_."

"Has anyone ever told you that you're a big baby?" Leo laughed under his breath. He faced the front of the class again and pretended to take notes. In his lap, his phone vibrated.

**NotClarkKent:** Leooooooooooooo

Leo glanced over his shoulder, only to find Jason staring back at him, smirk balancing on his face.

**shittylionman:** leave me aloooooooone. Gotta get an A here  
**NotClarkKent:** Its all notes anyway  
**shittylionman:** 🙄🙄🙄 we're not all super geniuses with tutors at home  
**NotClarkKent:** I don't have a tutor  
**shittylionman:** but how about that super brain?  
**piperdiaper:** why are u guy flirting in the group chat 😂. should i be jealous?   
**piperdiaper:** Compliment me too. 😂😂😂 Tell me about my huge brain 😩

Leo burst out laughing, catching the attention of all the students and their teacher. Oh no. He wasn't going to be taken down alone. Leo's head whipped to Jason... who was innocently looking as bewildered as the rest of their classmates.

That _dick_. His phone wasn't even off- Leo could see the light reflecting on Jason's shirt in his lap.

The teacher apparently did not have the 20/20 vision that Leo had and failed to see this. Instead, he left Leo seeing the bright red slip that meant SATURDAY DETENTION.

Leo grumbled as he tossed the paper into his bag with the others. Big deal. He stays at the school doing nothing for a few hours. Isn't his first time and won't be his last time. Plus he gets a free meal.

**NotClarkKent:** Now u can join me 😆  
**shittylionman:** you got detention?  
**NotClarkKent:** Yep

Leo was about to respond, when his phone vibrated again. Not a message from the group chat nor from either of his two besties.

**IceQueen:** got plans later tonight?

Another message came with an image attached. He opened it and sucked in a breath. Behind him, Jason tapped him again, but Leo shrugged him off.

Damn. Khione was _so_ hot. He couldn't wait to show her to everyone. He spent the rest of the class ingraining that sacred photo into his memory. 

* * *

Yo, PJ!”

“Hey!” Percy grins at the person who calls his name, before turning back to his best friend. “Dude. Dodds’ totally hates me.”

“She doesn’t hate you,” Grover, ever so helpful with listening to his best friend’s problem reassured. He popped open a bag of chips- the healthy kind that prided itself for being baked and organic. “She just doesn’t like you. At all.”

“Understatement of the year.” Percy groaned. He pounded his head on the table. “I’m not going to graduate because of her. Then I’ll have _another_ year of her.”

“I think they’d give you another teacher,” Grover said. “If you failed the first time, I mean.”

“That’s it,” Percy mumbled into the table. He turned his head and pressed his cheek against the surface. “I’m dropping out. I’m done with school. See you, Grover. This is it. This is where we part.”

“It’d suck to graduate without you.”

“Same back at you.” Percy sat up.

Grover turned his bag of chips towards Percy, offering the food. Percy declined, remembering the last time he tried some of those. They were so nasty, making Percy very thankful that some scientists had created artificial flavoring to make regular food good. Grover zipped up his sweater. “How’s your other classes?”

“Ha,” Percy said. “Next question.”

“Perc. School’s important, you know.” Grover looked concerned.

“Yeah yeah, I already had the counselor speech.”

“Maybe you should _listen_.”

“Hey,” Percy said, uncomfortable and ready to change the subject. “Guess who made team captain.”

“No way. That’s good, man!” Grover crunched down on some more chips. “Told you you’d make it.”

“I’ll have to stay extra late though,” Percy winced. He'll have to take the bus home smelling of chlorine. Plus that meant no studying time if Percy really wanted to get serious. Annabeth and his mom would _kill_ him if he didn't study though.

"You'll manage," Grover said just as the bell rang, signaling lunch was over. Grover pulled his trash together but Percy didn't move. He lazily licked his pudding spoon and watched his best friend gather his things.

"You did hear that bell, right?" Grover said uncertainly as if he was the one going crazy, and as if the cafeteria wasn't clearing out.

"Yeah."

"So are you going to," Grover gestured for Percy to get up. "_You know_..."

"Nah." Percy rested his head on the table. "You know how much I just love math? Now imagine all that love two- no _five_ times as much. That's how much I love English."

"It can't be that bad."

Percy pointed his spoon at Grover. "We're reading... Shakespeare? That guy sucks."

Grover chuckles awkwardly. "Okay, Percy. They're really hunkering down on the red passes though."

Percy waved him off. "The lunch ladies will protect me."

After that, Grover scurried off and Percy listened to the sounds of the nearby kitchen pots clanging. He reached in his bag, scowling when his hand bumped against the cursed _Othello_ that he had stuffed at the bottom, and took out his sweater. He was supposed to have read scene three for homework, but Percy had taken one look at the cast list and closed the book.

He hated that guy. Not Othello, but Shakespeare. He's boring. Why couldn't they read something like The Magic Tree House? Those books were fun _and_ educational!

Annabeth would agree with him.

**Persea:** Im bored  
**Annabeths1:** I'm in class, Percy  
**Persea:** D:  
**Annabeths1:** What's up?  
**Persea:** What's ur opinion on magic tree house  
**Annabeths1:** The books?  
**Annabeths1:** Good, funny. Loved them as a kid  
**Persea:** Arent they better then Chekspear?  
**Annabeths1:** Obviously

He grinned to himself. _God_, did Percy love his girlfriend. She was the _best_.

He turned his phone off and tested his head. Not long after that, Percy drifted off to sleep. He only woke up when the bell rang again, signaling another class change.

There in front of him was a red pass. SATURDAY DETENTION. When he reached for it, his hand was blue.

On closer inspection was blue ink reading _Sorry Honey! -<3 Mom_

Great. He got detention just like Grover said he would. And he got it from his own _mom_.

* * *

Hazel had never been to detention before. She got lucky, and she _knew_ she got lucky. Most of the damage affected her family not the school, but the principal still believed she needed to be punished for the next few weeks. If it wasn't for her dad's influence, she might've gotten worse. It _had_ been illegal for her to be behind the wheel.

She hoped Charon would be okay. He was supposed to be the responsible adult. And Hazel _did_ like him.

Hazel peeked into the classroom where she was serving her time. A few kids were already seated around the class. Her face fell. They were already acquainted with. Not exactly prime people to make friends with.

Hazel sat near the front by the windows. In the row in front of her, on the other side of the classroom, an upperclassman slept with his hands spread over the desk. Behind her, three kids, one girl and two boys, snickered and stared at a cellphone.

Hazel sighed and stared at the blackboard. SATURDAY DETENTION RULES. YOU WILL NOT LEAVE UNTIL 2 PM. LUNCH IS AT NOON. BATHROOM BREAKS ARE ONE AT A TIME. PHONES GO ON THE FRONT DESK.

There weren't any phones on the desk. Hazel would've put her own up there but that would be too weird.

She glanced around the room again, taking note of the posters on the walls and the giant globe in the back of the class. She's never been here before- she had yet to take World History. A colorful poster highlighting a cartoonish Roman emperor pointed a sword at her, causing an awkward giggle to bubble inside of her.

The others paid no mind. Hazel bit her lip, looking at the sleeping boy. He was hot.

She didn't use that word for a lot of people, but she couldn't deny that this guy was hot. Maybe Nico knew him. Nico knew a lot of upperclassmen, despite him only being in the grade above Hazel.

The Hot Sleeper's face twitched and he let out a snore. A dribble of drool rolled out the corner of his mouth- Hazel giggled. The drooling didn't ruin the hot guy image but made him more endearing instead. What type of person was he? Would he like Hazel?

She then turned around and stared at the other three. The three of them huddled together in the back, paid her no mind, as they stared at the phone screen in the middle. The guy on the left side of the girl was familiar to Hazel... he must've been to a few Student Council meetings but she couldn't place the name. His arm was wrapped around the girl who leaned close. They're probably dating.

The last male sat on the girl's right, his feet propped up on the desk and he glanced back and forth between the girl's phone and his own. Catching her eye, underneath too much curly hair, he raised an eyebrow at Hazel and grinned. Her face grew hot and she quickly faced forward. His laughter made its way up to her ears, making Hazel want to bury her face in her hands.

Not long after that, the trio moved up to surround her. The girl sat in front of Hazel, the curly-haired one next to her, and the glasses clad blond went across from her.

"First time?" Curly rolled out the conversation.

"Yeah..." She didn't know where they were going with this.

"It's not bad," The girl said. Her eyes were hazel but the colors were all indistinguishable from each other. "Mr D is supposed to check up on us every hour, but he only comes during lunch and when we leave."

"Sometimes he comes in," the familiar one said. His voice was rough, but he seemed like a calm person. It bugged her a lot that his name was on the tip of her tongue but she couldn't place the name with the face.

"Only if we're making a lot of noise," Those rainbow eyes fell on Hazel. "What's your name?"

Hazel told them, and they introduced themselves in order- Piper, Jason, Leo. She _did_ recognize Jason but now she couldn't remember from _where_. It might've been Student Council but that didn't feel right. Regardless, they did the normal exchange of info with their names; telling her they were all seniors and her figuring out that they must've known each other for a long time.

Hazel was still on edge. She wanted new friends, but there was something a bit unbalanced about their relationship. She was normally right about these things- Hazel had been told she was oddly observant and perceptive.

Despite that, she didn't understand what they were talking about anyway. Jason and Leo were bickering over a class that Hazel wasn't in, and Piper was humming a song Hazel didn't know.

"That was really good," she offered when Piper stopped.

Piper looked embarrassed, "Thanks." Her eyes fluttered over to Jason and Leo, and she tucked a hair back. "What's in the bag?"

Hazel had been clutching her lunch box on the desk. The floral pattern seemed too childish now than it had seemed at home. When Charon had originally packed it for her, she picked up the bag without thinking. "Um. Fruits. Rice. I think some chocolate?"

"Food?" Leo perked. "Let me see." He took the bag without waiting for a response and began pulling out her food. He let out a low whistle at the nicely organized containers. A thermos of spaghetti, followed by plump green grapes, Doritos, a water bottle and baggie of oatmeal raisin cookies. Leo perked open the bag and asked, "Can I have one?" except it came out as _Can I've one?_

She nodded and passed the cookies around. Piper groaned into hers. "_Ugh_ these are so good. We're going to be best friends if you get us some more of these."

Hazel smiled at that. "My mom baked them." Hazel's never had a girl friend. She would have to ask her mom to bake some more until she and Piper became real friends.

"Your mom," Leo spoke through his chewing, reaching for another cookie. Jason pushed his hand away, and Leo threw an annoyed look at him. "Your mom, is like, perfect. I'm gonna marry her."

"You don't even know her," Jason coughed into his elbow.

"I know enough." Leo shot back.

"So you're gonna marry a woman you never met, whose maybe at least twice your age with kids, all because she can bake?"

Leo nodded feverishly. "Hell yeah."

Hazel laughed with Piper, while Jason and Leo began arguing about the benefits of marrying Hazel's mom. Hazel neglected to say that her mom had been happily married for about two years now, nor was her mom interested in seventeen-year-old boys.

"There's a party by Alex's," Piper spoke up around the time Leo hit _I'll marry your dad too, Jason._ Her finger glided over her phone, fingernails short with bitten edges. She points the screen to Jason and Leo, the former seeming neutral towards it and the latter brimming with excitement. Leo pulled out his own phone and started typing away while Jason glanced between the two.

He sighed, then catching Hazel's eye, he shrugged at her with a charming soft smile. "You can come if you want... it's not black tie or invitation required."

Was that a joke? Leo offhandedly barked a quick laugh and Jason seemed proud of himself. So Hazel laughed a little too because her face was warm from making friends and being invited to things. She was being invited somewhere! Hazel had friends who _invited_ her to things!

"Okay," Hazel beamed. "Can you send me the address and time?"

Piper held her hand out. "Sure. Add me on snap."

"I don't have Snapchat."

"Hm. Do you have Instagram?"

"No..."

"Twitter?"

"No," Hazel's face fell. Piper snorted and rubbed Hazel's hand.

"It's cool. I'll just text you. What's your phone number?"

Hazel told her, and Piper rapped out a quick message. Her phone was on Do Not Disturb, but Hazel could practically feel her phone warm in her pocket. It grew heavier in her pocket, the knowledge of having another contact making Hazel oddly gleeful.

She grinned but didn't want to seem too weird, so she shoved one of her cookies in her mouth. Piper looks amused, but Hazel didn't care. She had friends.

"Come on," Piper said, putting her phone away. "Let's get me something to eat."

* * *

"Give me a sec. I'll catch up with you." Frank called out to the rest of the group as he stopped in front of the vending machine.

Doritos. Lays. Cookies. Sugar wafers. Gum. Candy.

Frank pressed in D3, watching as a pack of fruit snacks spiraled forward and then drop. He bent to pick it up, but when he straightened, there was a pair standing at his side, analyzing the contents of the machine.

One of them was, at least. The other girl, shorter, darker, and smaller, stared at the floor as if the tiles were more interesting than food.

Frank could share the sentiment. He shook a few gummies out and offered the rest to the girl. Her eyes widened, and she stared back at Frank, deer in headlights look perfected.

"Hazel, right?" Frank wasn't entirely sure. He barely knew her- only seeing the girl a few times a week. She always seemed intimidated by him, so Frank never bothered talking to her, for fear of her freaking out. "You can have the rest."

Hazel's hand slowly rose to reach the bag. Her other friend grunted as she kicked the vending machine for some Cheetos.

"Thanks," Hazel squeaked, hand pulling the bag away Frank. Frank nodded, checked his watch, and then adjusted his bag. Being on the Student Council often meant coming to school on days he didn't need to and doing work nobody wanted to do. The rest of the group would be waiting.

"Ah. Are you okay?" He remembered the earlier incident from this week. She had been the one who crashed into the tree, right?

"Fine. Good! Great." Hazel's words spilled out faster than he could here. She smoothed out her pleated purple skirt and avoided his eyes.

The other girl, Piper, who Frank recognized only because she was Jason's girlfriend, waved at him, then linked her arm through Hazel's as the wandered back down the hallway.

Must be Saturday detention. Frank's heard some stuff about Jason and his friends. He didn't think Hazel was the type of girl to get into trouble (she was reticent during meetings), but he didn't know her. She seemed nice though.

The handful of fruit snacks in his hand began to grow sticky. He threw them out when passing by a trashcan, wiping his hand against his pants. Frank's stomach growled, but he ignored it. He'd rather not eat then eat what was nearly 100 calories in sweaty gelatin. He'll eat when he gets home.

Besides. His student council work was more important.

* * *

Jason wasn't really a drinker or a dancer so there wasn't much for him to do at a party. Piper hadn't arrived yet because she wanted to help Hazel, and Leo had long abandoned him at the front of Alex Fierro's house twenty minutes ago.

Jason was uncomfortable.

He didn't enjoy the sweaty bodies or low lighting. He didn't like pizza or shitty warm beer. What he did like was having his best friends near, but evidently, they didn't feel the same.

Piper was a kind person at heart, so Jason had expected her absence. She seemed to like Hazel a lot, or maybe it was the fact that Piper was sick of hanging out with two guys all the time. That was fine. Jason wasn't a clingy boyfriend at all.

But Leo was different. Typically he was attached to Jason's hip, and Jason was used to always having someone to fall back to. Being with Leo was easily one of the best things about Jason's life. So finding his friend being so distant lately? _Not_ fun.

Octavian sat next to him blabbering about a project, but Jason was too distracted to listen. Octavian was his friend- that term was loosely applied here- but he'd rather enjoy Leo's presence instead.

Jason eventually stood up to search for him. Leo was always getting into bad situations for being nosy, but here Jason was he nosy one. He squeezed through a throng of people, muttering _Excuse me_ to no one, as he wondered what Leo was into this time.

When they were at parties like these, in which the vibe was steadily growing, and the music was too loud, Leo would sit next to Jason playing some RPG game on his phone, battling wizards or monsters or whatever while Jason watched, thighs pressed against each other to conserve space on whatever tiny couch they needed to sit on. Jason would have to lean close to Leo's ear to speak, and he enjoyed watching his best friend shiver.

Jason fell into a hallway. By the foot of the stairs, Percy and Annabeth were making out, Percy's hands in Annabeth's hair, and Annabeth's hand on his knee. Jason passed by them up the stairs, but his jeans brushed Annabeth's back causing the couple to separate.

"Oh, hey." Annabeth couldn't meet his eye. They barely knew each other; sharing a few advanced classes over the years but not close enough to be involved in each others' business. "Make sure to study for the APUSH test."

"Got it," Jason didn't look at her either. Percy nodded at him. Between the couple, their linked fingers made Jason feel slightly nauseated.

He carried up the stairs, hitting the second level with a sigh of relief. Up here, there were fewer people, the music wasn't as loud, and it smelled less like sweat and more like weed. A few of Jason's classmates were milling around, all in various stages of getting high or chilling in front of doorways. Jason weaved through the hall, glancing around to find his friend. Leo had the uncanny ability to sniff out drugs like a bloodhound, so he could only assume Leo was up here somewhere. He tried a few doors, but they were either locked or empty.

He bumped into Dakota, who Jason had long learned was never sober but still very reliable with information. After asking about Leo, Dakota snickered and thumbed to the closed door a few steps over.

Jason thanked him, denying the tabs that were offered, and opened the door. Seeing Leo's Hawaiian shirt was good, but the moaning that quickly followed was not, so Jason immediately shut the door because _what the hell_.

And then, after a few seconds of thinking what? _What?_ _WHAT?_, Jason peeked again.

It was definitely his best friend. Jason knew every aspect of Leo's form and could easily pick him from a crowd. Plus Leo's shirts were utterly ridiculous. So while Jason's brain understood _that_, it could not understand the pale beauty in the bed nor the noises that accompanied it- _her_. He stared as Leo's head of hair went from the girl's face to her neck to her chest, down to her belly and then down-

Jason closed the door again, breathing hard. He had just been watching his best friend have sex. He had been watching _Leo_ have _sex_. His brain was going numb.

Then came anger. There was a bit of arousal, but the anger allowed Jason to ignore that because irritation flowed over him the way a tsunami does over a beach city. He didn't care that Leo was sexually active (though a part of him _did_), but he wanted to know why Leo didn't _tell_ _him_.

They told each other everything. Jason was very understanding. He listened when Leo had gotten stressed over going off his meds, and then grew depressed when he actually went off them for a bit. He accepted it when Leo came out as bi, even googling it to find out what the word meant and offering to take Leo to their school's GSA. He was always there when Leo stormed out of his house angry, or when Leo wanted to rant about Piper, or when Leo wanted to be spontaneous. Jason was _always_ there for him.

So _this_ felt pretty insignificant when it came to things Leo could talk to him about. He could've told Jason. Jason would've been okay with it.

He held a hand to his rapidly beating chest. His heart hurt, whether it was the feeling of being betrayed or something else.

He slid down to the floor and opened his phone. Piper had texted him a few minutes ago, saying she was here with Hazel. He texted back _K._, but he didn't really want to see her.

Jason sighed, closing his eyes. Behind him came the thumps of the bed creaking and more moans. Jason could practically pick out Leo's individual noises and groaning. Something began to build up under his navel, but Jason overlooked it in favor of focusing on the carpeting under his shoes.

Dakota wandered back to Jason, handing him a dark drink. Jason took it and then stood up in search of his girlfriend. The soda tasted like cough syrup and sweet grape jolly ranchers. He dropped it somewhere on the stairs- Percy and Annabeth deserted it, leaving candy wrappers- and clambered back into the living room, wincing at the music level.

He found Piper and Hazel on the front porch. When he reached her, he grabbed Piper and kissed her as hard as he could, as if Piper's love and cherry chapstick could erase the images of Leo kissing someone else.

He inwardly grimaced. He meant kissing someone. _Else_ implied something that wasn't true.

"Whoa, Casanova," Piper smiled against his lips, their foreheads touching and noses a hair's width apart.

"Just happy to see you," Jason said.

"What were you drinking?" Piper pulled away. She licked her lips. "Where's Leo?"

"Dunno," Jason stepped back, eyes darting away. He focused on Hazel, who had braided her hair, wore a knee-lengthed green skirt, and held a wrapped present. No one told her it wasn't that kind of party.

Piper pressed her lips together. She wasn't used to her short hair yet, and had pulled it back into two pigtails, except half of it was already spilling out. She could probably tell that Jason was lying because she knew him better than he knew himself.

But Piper didn't say anything about it. She instead said, "I'm going to take Hazel inside so she can see her first party. I'll be back in a few. Love ya, JG."

"Love you, PM." Jason automatically responded, but it felt lackluster and robotic. A brisk wind brushed his face, and Jason zipped up his jacket. He settled on a colorful porch chair, sitting next to a passed out girl, and a couple with the guy's hands up the girl's shirt and her hand down his pants. The music inside the house changed, causing a loud cheer to erupt, and the neighbor's upstairs light to go on.

Jason sighed, sitting alone again. Piper had left because she wanted to help Hazel, and Leo had abandoned him because of some chick.

Once again, Jason was uncomfortable.

**Author's Note:**

> here are some of the important notes if i ever slap another chapter:
> 
> \- hazel is barely aged up to 14, and frank is still 16. i left that because i think hazel having a crush is completely acceptable and adorable and very 14-ish. however, im gonna straight up say that this is unrequited, frankly because as a 16 yr old, i can't see anyone under 15 as dating material lmao. gross. 
> 
> \- i left piper's stupid ass kaleidoscope eyes (let's call them hazel eyes), but hazel has beautiful dark brown eyes. the gold eyes were so ridiculous and adds nothing to this, plus brown eyes are gorgeous
> 
> \- some things are going to be a lot more researched than others, simply because i might have more experience or encountered it. like, i don't know anything about dyslexia so i had to look into the different types and how it shows, but i _do_ know about shitty families so it's not something i'll need to look into as much. 
> 
> \- i do not condone a lot of what they do here, but i understand/empathize with the situations people face. ngl, i'm talking specifically about jason/leo...i personally think cheating is disgusting, but people still do it. i'm not trying to make it seem like everything they do is okay. just writing about a problem, and how stupid teens deal with it.
> 
> as always if u have critisms or thoughts feel free to drop it down below :) if u think i should've written something better than tell me lol, i'm not scary. lol, i'm even fine with the "update plz" cause it tells me what u want haha :))))


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